Game
Game is the eleventh episode of Garo Synopsis A Horror called Dantalian is taking the souls of people who lose to his games. Kouga must save Kaoru's stolen soul by playing his game..or both he and Kaoru will perish at the hands of this trickster. Plot Summary A woman is being chased by a man in a bright neon yellow suit, she pleads for him to leave her alone but he says that he cannot as she must follow the rules of the game. A flashback reveals that the man asked her to play a shell game involving finding his coin and she lost because the game was fixed so he would win. The man then rips out her soul, which becomes a coin and then a larger coin which the man eats. As he eats it, parts of the woman's body slowly disappear as she screams in pain and terror. Kaoru is excited as she has a won a spot on Money Park, a TV game show where she can win cash prizes. She tells Gonza and he says the game requires that the contestant work with a partner. He tries to tell Kaoru that he would like to go with her, but she decides to ask Kouga. Kouga is in the middle of training and Zaruba warns him that there is someone behind him. Kouga raises his sword, only to find it is Kaoru. Kaoru shows him the entry form, but Kouga is not interested. Kaoru asks if he is interested in anything other than Horrors, to which he says no. She then tries to make him jealous by saying she will ask Rei to come instead, but he simply tells her to get out of the way and continues training. Kaoru is upset and text dialogue of her thoughts appear on the screen, she wants the money but also wants Kouga to have a life outside of fighting by having fun and wants to see him smile, even if its only once. She walks away, with Kouga noticing he has upset her, but he continues his training. Later that night, she goes to a park bench to sulk, only for the game man appear in front of her. He ask her if she wants to play, she misinterprets this as a sleazy pick up line and says she is not interested. But he says he simply wants to play a game with her by testing her luck. The Eastern Watchdogs are playing a game that involves teleporting Jenga blocks and ask Kouga if he would like to play while Kodama hands him his Orders Document about the Horror Dantalian. He declines and they wonder if he's afraid he'll lose or that he has no guts. Kouga says that Makai agents such as them use a portion of their own life as a wager, something that Makai Knights cannot afford to gamble with. The Watchdogs say that he has his own game by gambling with Kaoru's life. Zaruba alerts him that Kaoru is near the Horror. Dantalian plays the coin game with Kaoru but she loses the game and has her soul taken from her. Kouga runs into Rei, who provokes him into a fight. Kouga asks what he is after and Rei says he wants to kill the one with the title of Garo. Kouga asks why and Rei says he hates a dumb Golden Knight that doesn't know he is the target of bitter revenge. Kouga still doesn't understand what that has to do with him. Zaruba and Silva stop them from fighting any further as the Watchdogs can remove a portion of their lives, shortening them as punishment for breaking the rules of the Order by crossing blades with each other. Rei begrudgingly lets him go to save Kaoru and walks off. Kouga finds Dantalian on the park bench. Zaruba says he is the Horror they are looking for, but he can no longer sense Kaoru. Dantalian says that her soul is in his possession and that if the Makai Knight wants it back, he has to play his games. At first, Kouga is not interested and tries to attack him but is stopped by Dantalian. The Horror saying that Kouga drawing his sword is an automatic forefit of the game and Kaoru's soul will be his. Kouga reluctantly accepts and the first game begins, Kouga must choose a door to enter the Horror's dimension. Kouga chooses the red door and Dantalian says he chose correctly, showing that the black door had a giant Horror inside, waiting to devour him. After entering the door, Dantalian says that the game for Kaoru's soul will include Kouga's as a wager if he loses. If Kouga loses, he keep both their souls as part of his collection. Kouga says that his methods are pointless, to which the Horror says that brute force goes against his style of doing things and that he is honored to fight the legendary Golden Knight in a battle of wits. Dantalian sends Kaoru's body away and starts the second game, a timed riddle about a traveler going to Shangri-La. Kouga almost runs out of time, but manages to get the correct answer. Dantalian then gives him a bottle that contains Kaoru's soul, but wants to play another game. Kouga says that was not part of the deal but he says that a human soul weighs 21 grams and he only put seven in the bottle, thus there are 2 more games to play to win. Kouga enters the second stage, a room with floating platforms. Dantalian gives the knight his next challenge, reach the door in three steps and then Kouga can advance to the next game. Kouga tries to land on a floor tile, but the floor breaks around him once he lands and then regenerates. Dantalian says he forgot to mention that the floor breaks with each step he takes, though Zaruba states he should tell the full rules before playing. Kouga leaps into the air and punches the ground, breaking the floor again and showing which three tiles can be used to cross safely. Reaching the door, Kouga gets back seven more grams of Kaoru's soul. Dantalian applauds his efforts and sends him to the third stage. Kouga tries to swipe the last of Kaoru's soul, but is blocked by Dantalian, who places it in his collection until the game is over. The Horror challenges him to his coin game, tossing his coin in the air and running behind Kouga to catch it. He then asks where the coin is and Kouga says the left hand, to which he appears to have lost until Dantalian finds that the coin is not in his coat. Kouga then shows that he caught the coin in his left hand when Dantalian wasn't looking, therefore he wins. Enraged at losing, Dantalian then says the game isn't over and the final game is that Garo has to defeat him. Kouga asks about what he said before about his style of aesthetics, but the angered Horror just wants to defeat him and changes into his true form, putting all of Kaoru's soul in his mouth and swallowing it. The two fight and Dantalian uses his environment and coin barrage attacks to his advantage, but Kouga transforms and manages to get Kaoru's soul by stabbing Dantalian's stomach and pulling it out. Dantalian tries a flying sneak attack from behind, but Kaoru's bottle gave off a reflection of the Horror that gives away his position, allowing Kouga to counter and slash his body apart. The severed head of Dantalian commends Kouga for having better luck and that he has only three chances to save Kaoru, before he is destroyed. It turns out that even after death, Dantalian had one more game to play. The real Kaoru's body is hidden amongst a multitude of duplicates, the game being that he must find the real one in three tries or Kaoru dies along with her body. He gets it wrong twice and then tries to focus on finding the aura of the real body to locate it. He then performs a Makai ritual that Zaruba taught him to restore her to normal by drinking her soul, reciting an incantation while holding her, then kissing her, which restores the soul to Kaoru's body. Kaoru wakes up with no memory of what happened and asks if Kouga did anything weird. Kouga says no and that nobody would want to do that. She then says that she has a headache and feels that her soul had been whisked away. To which Zaruba agrees with and Kouga chuckles at. Kaoru states that he was laughing but Kouga denies it and says they should get home. Kaoru is too weak to stand and Zaruba suggests that she should rest. Kouga lets Kaoru rest on the steps, her head resting on his shoulder, she softly apologizes to him as she drifts off to sleep. Cast *''to be added'' *''to be added'' Notes to be added Errors *''to be added'' Home Video Release * Garo Season 1 Vol. 1 featured episodes 1-13 on two discs, with English subtitles by Kraken Releasing. References